MOSCOW. April 6 (Interfax-AVN) - President Vladimir Putin received President of Yemen Ali Abdallah Saleh in the Kremlin on Tuesday.
It was their second meeting in Moscow in the last two years. Saleh first visited Russia as president in December 2002 when his talks with Putin were crowned by the declaration of the principles of friendly relations and cooperation between Russia and Yemen.
Sources in the Russian presidential administration told Interfax that the settlement in Iraq, the situation in the Middle East and the fight against terrorism would be the key subjects of the top-level talks.
A source said that both sides' approaches to those issues virtually coincide. For instance, they support the speedy restoration of the sovereignty of Iraq and the UN's active involvement in the political transformation, social and economic revival of that country.
Like Russia, Yemen regards the roadmap for the Middle East as a key element for settling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The source also indicated that Russia and Yemen "share a common opposition to all forms and manifestations of international terrorism with which they are resolutely fighting in the framework of the international anti-terrorist campaign."
The source drew attention to the positive dynamics in Russian-Yemeni economic cooperation, in particular in arms trade.
In 2000, Russia delivered 31 T-80 main battle tanks to Yemen. The contract was fully paid on time. In 2001, the sides signed a contract for MiG-29 fighter jets. Russia is expected to deliver some 15 aircraft. The first batch was shipped in summer 2002.
Yemen also negotiated the procurement of Kamov helicopters and has shown interest in Russian armaments and hardware for the Navy, air defense and ground forces.
Among the contracts that may be signed with Yemen, sources in Russian arms trade named cited deals for S-300PMU1 and S- 300PMU2 Favorit (SA-10B Grumble) surface-to-air missile systems, helicopters of the Kamov family (KA-50 Hokum, KA-28 Helix and KA- 60) and fighter jets.
The volume of arms trade between the two sides has already reached USD8bn.